MassDOT has released weMove Massachusetts: Planning
for Performance, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’
Long-Range Transportation Plan. The report summarizes
MassDOT’s approach to performance-driven capital budgeting
and the use of scenario planning. The centerpiece of the plan
is the Planning for Performance tool, which can be used to
calculate the performance outcomes resulting from different
funding levels available to MassDOT. The tool also begins to
incorporate MassDOT’s important policy initiatives, such as
mode shift and sustainability, into the capital planning process.
In the future MassDOT will use the tool to update and refine
investment priorities. The performance tool also allows our
customers and stakeholders to understand the impacts of
investment in our transportation system.
The plan is the outcome of the weMove Massachusetts (WMM)
process. WMM is a result of the Commonwealth’s 2009
transportation reform legislation, a robust civic engagement
process, and MassDOT’s commitment to improve performance for
every mode of travel. The plan meets performance measurement
requirements called for in both state and (through the MAP-21
reauthorization) Federal transportation legislation. WMM will
improve how MassDOT does business, responds to customers,
and provides transportation services across the Commonwealth.
Planning for Performance
MassDOT wants to target its resources for maintaining,
operating, and improving the Commonwealth’s transportation system. Using the Planning for Performance tool to
choose transportation priorities will help MassDOT base
investment decisions on transportation goals, policies, and
customer needs and priorities by:
• Allowing MassDOT to set priorities for transportation
investments across all modes, including highway,
transit, pedestrian, and bicycle (adding aviation in
the future).
• Analyzing key components of the transportation
system: bridges, roadways, buses and trains,
railroad tracks and signal, and bike paths.
• Being guided by MassDOT policies developed
through our understanding of customers’ wants and
goals and including mode shift, greenhouse gas
reduction, and more healthy transportation options.
Our customers can review these performance results in
the report, which is posted on the WMM web site at
www.massdot.state.ma.us/wemove/.
How the Tool Works
The Planning for Performance tool forecasts the performance and conditions of
various transportation assets under different funding scenarios.
The tool also permits customers to consider what the results would be if funding was
maintained at the historic, lower levels – or if it is reduced in the future. Consider
mobility on Massachusetts highways: presently, Massachusetts drivers experience
an average of 4.8 hours of delay per 1,000 vehicle miles they travel (based on
annual funding of $147 million). This means that the average driver experiences
about 15 minutes of delay on the average commute. Under historic funding levels
of $65 million annually for capacity improvements, hours of delay would increase to
8.9 per thousand miles travelled in 2040, reflecting an almost doubling of delay. By
comparison, under new funding levels, delay will only increase to 6.0 hours by 2040.
Your Input and Suggestions
MassDOT focused on our customers’ transportation
priorities through a broad and extensive civic engagement
effort. MassDOT began by conducting a series of
conversations about transportation wants and needs across
the Commonwealth, resulting in a set of core themes
used to guide the WMM process. WMM then focused on
potentially underserved populations, residents of Gateway
communities, communities with large Environmental
Justice, low-income or minority residents, and Title VI
stakeholder groups. MassDOT also conducted a series
of 17 transportation conversations (Your Vision, Our
Future) across the State, which provided more valuable
insights. The responses and preferences are outlined in a
Stakeholder Summary Report of the WMM process, which is
available on the project web site (www.massdot.state.ma.us/
wemove/Documents/StakeholderSummaryReport.aspx).
Summary
MassDOT developed WMM to choose the most efficient
and cost-effective transportation solutions. These
choices will be multimodal, protect our environment
and communities, and help MassDOT move towards
the kind of 21st Century system our customers want
and need. As funding levels change over time, WMM
will remain an effective planning tool for connecting
MassDOT’s policies, investments, and funding to our
customers’ needs to create a safer and more effective
transportation system.
MassDOT welcomes your comments on weMove Massachusetts: Planning for Performance.
You can send comments to Scott Hamwey at MassDOT, Office of Transportation Planning,
10 Park Plaza, Room 4150, Boston, MA 02116; 857-368-8857; or scott.hamwey@state.ma.us.